Principal, Strategic Talent & Market Intelligence – US Lending

OakNorth; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k plan (Principal match 4%)

Medical care plan

Dental & Vision

Health Savings Account

EAP

Holiday 20 days

Job summary

OakNorth is building a strategic Talent Intelligence capability for its US Lending business in New York. You will partner with senior US Lending leaders to shape hiring strategy, provide market intelligence, and build long-term relationships with top lending professionals.

This embedded role sits within a high-performing global Talent Acquisition organization and will leverage Ashby and AI-driven insights. You will lead strategic advisory, competitive intelligence, and talent-brand initiatives

Qualifications

• Established network across the US lending market.
• Strong research, networking and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent commercial judgement and executive presence.

Responsibilities

• Partner with US Lending leadership to develop long-term talent strategies aligned to business growth.
• Advise on organizational design and build-versus-buy decisions.
• Support succession and workforce planning with market insight.
• Provide market intelligence to inform strategic hiring decisions.
• Develop dashboards and reporting to enable informed talent decisions.

Job description

Help Build the Team Behind One of the Most Ambitious Commercial Lenders

At OakNorth, we don't just hire talent—we build the teams that help ambitious businesses grow.

Since launching in 2015, OakNorth has become one of the UK's leading commercial banks, deploying billions in lending to entrepreneurs and mid-market businesses. As we continue to expand our presence in the United States, we're looking for someone to build a market-leading talent intelligence capability that will help shape the future of our US Lending business.

We're hiring a Principal, Strategic Talent & Market Intelligence to partner with our US Lending leadership team and become our expert on the US commercial lending talent market.

This is not a traditional Talent Acquisition role.

You'll be embedded within our US Lending business, partnering closely with senior leaders to shape hiring strategy, provide market intelligence and build long-term relationships with exceptional talent across the industry.

At the same time, you'll be part of OakNorth's Global Talent Acquisition organization, collaborating with Talent Partners across the UK and US to share market intelligence, best practices and innovative sourcing strategies. This unique model combines the influence of an embedded business partner with the support and collaboration of a high-performing global team.

Using strategic talent advisory, competitive intelligence, AI-powered research and relationship management, you'll help OakNorth attract and retain exceptional lending professionals while building a sustainable competitive advantage.

The Opportunity

You'll build a strategic talent intelligence capability that supports the continued growth of OakNorth's US Lending business.

Rather than reacting to hiring needs, you'll identify market trends before they emerge, develop relationships long before vacancies exist and provide intelligence that informs workforce planning, succession planning and business strategy.

Using Ashby as your strategic Talent CRM, you'll build a living ecosystem of market intelligence, executive relationships and talent insights that enable smarter hiring decisions across the business.

What You'll Do

Strategic Talent Partner

Partner with US Lending leadership to develop long-term talent strategies aligned to business growth.

You'll:

• Translate business objectives into strategic hiring plans.

• Advise on organizational design and build versus buy decisions.

• Support succession planning and workforce planning.

• Provide market insight to inform strategic hiring decisions.

• Partner with leaders to identify future capability needs.

Market Intelligence

Become OakNorth's expert on the US lending talent market.

You'll build and maintain live intelligence across:

• Organizational structures

• Team moves

• Promotions

• Compensation trends

• Reporting lines

• Team stability

• Succession risk

• Market expansion

• Office openings

• Emerging talent

Our ambition is simple: build one of the industry's most comprehensive talent intelligence capabilities.

Competitive Intelligence

Develop real-time insight into the competitive landscape.

You'll understand:

• Which firms are hiring

• Leadership movements

• Growing and shrinking lending platforms

• Compensation trends

• Team stability

• Market expansion

• Emerging competitors

• Industry trends

You'll translate market intelligence into actionable recommendations for business leaders.

Relationship Management

Build one of the strongest professional networks in the US lending market.

Develop trusted relationships across:

• Commercial Banking

• Middle Market Banking

• Specialty Finance

• Direct Lending

• Private Credit

• Asset-Based Lending

• Sponsor Finance

• Corporate Banking

These aren't recruitment conversations.

They're long-term career relationships built through networking, market insight, industry events and trusted advice.

Talent Intelligence & Ashby

You'll use Ashby as far more than an applicant tracking system.

You'll build a strategic Talent CRM that captures:

• Executive relationships

• Talent communities

• Market intelligence

• Competitor insights

• Career history

• Talent engagement

• Pipeline health

• Hiring trends

You'll develop dashboards and reporting that enable leaders to make informed talent decisions while ensuring valuable market intelligence is continually enriched.

AI & Innovation

You'll embrace AI to redefine how talent intelligence is delivered.

You'll leverage AI and modern talent technology to improve:

• Talent mapping

• Research

• Market intelligence

• Relationship management

• Workflow automation

• Reporting

• Productivity

You'll continually explore new technologies that help OakNorth stay ahead of the market.

Talent Brand

Help position OakNorth as a destination employer for ambitious lending professionals.

Working alongside Marketing and business leaders, you'll help develop:

• Lending market insights

• Deal case studies

• Leadership interviews

• Videos and podcasts

• Thought leadership

• Industry events

• Employer branding initiatives

Non-Obvious Talent Discovery

Exceptional talent isn't always visible through traditional sourcing.

You'll identify future leaders through:

• Industry conferences

• Speaking engagements

• Professional associations

• Market transactions

• Advisory firms

• Industry awards

• Emerging leaders programs

• Market referrals

• Industry publications

Your curiosity and market knowledge will uncover talent long before competitors identify them.

What Success Looks Like

You'll build intelligence that drives better business decisions.

Your outputs will include:

• US Lending Talent Heatmaps

• Competitor Intelligence Dashboards

• Quarterly Opportunity Reports

• Emerging Talent Reviews

• Compensation Benchmarking

• Succession Risk Analysis

• Executive Relationship Mapping

• Ashby Talent Dashboards

What We're Looking For

This role is ideal for someone who already understands the US lending market and has built a strong network across it.

You may come from executive search, talent intelligence, commercial banking, private credit, strategy consulting, market intelligence or another commercially focused environment where understanding markets, talent and competitive dynamics is critical.

You'll bring:

• An established network across the US lending market, particularly within New York, including commercial banking, middle market banking, private credit, direct lending, specialty finance and sponsor finance.

• A deep understanding of the US lending landscape, key market participants and where exceptional talent is found.

• The judgement to recognize outstanding talent and the credibility to build trusted relationships with senior professionals.

• A genuine hunter mentality with exceptional research, networking and relationship-building skills.

• Strong market mapping and competitive intelligence capability.

• Excellent commercial judgement and executive presence.

• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.

• Experience using Ashby or another modern Talent CRM to build talent communities and generate strategic market intelligence.

• A passion for leveraging AI and emerging technology to improve talent acquisition and decision making.

• An entrepreneurial mindset with a bias for action.

Why Join OakNorth?

This is a rare opportunity to build a strategic capability from the ground up.

You'll work directly with senior leaders while being part of a high-performing Global Talent Acquisition organization. You'll influence the growth of OakNorth's US Lending business, help shape our broader talent strategy and build a talent intelligence capability that becomes a genuine competitive advantage.

If you're entrepreneurial, commercially minded, deeply connected within the US lending market and passionate about uncovering exceptional talent through intelligence rather than transactions, we'd love to hear from you.

Benefits and Perks

• 401k plan with Principal (ON match up to 4%)

• Medical Care (managed through Insperity) - employees can add their family to their plan if needed

• Dental & Vision bundle

• Insperity Health Savings Account Program - this is a tax-advantaged employee benefit which can help manage health care costs by allowing employees to set aside some of their current earnings on a pretax basis for reimbursement of qualified health care expenses during the plan year

• EAP

• 20 days Holiday